The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Wednesday the U.S. private employers added 749,000 jobs in September. This was the biggest reading since June.

Economists had expected an increase of 650,000.

The August number saw an upward revision to 481,000 from the originally reported 428,000.

“The labor market continues to recover gradually,” noted Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “In September, the majority of sectors and company sizes experienced gains with trade, transportation and utilities; and manufacturing leading the way. However, small businesses continued to demonstrate slower growth.”